


An Anomaly of Our Own Creation

by PhoenixFalling



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/F, Gone but not forgotten, Zarlie - Freeform, charlie and john remember, guess whos back on their zarlie shit, i love zarlie okay, im still fucking pissed about 4b okay, its 5am when im posting this what the fuck am i doing with my life, john charlie and zari share a connection, legends of to-meow-meow has a purpose here, this was supposed to be done two months ago but here we are
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 02:20:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19843540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixFalling/pseuds/PhoenixFalling
Summary: After the events of that was Neron's defeat and Tabitha's demise, the Legends are taking advantage of the peace and quiet. Charlie and John, however, have been experiencing weird visions and dreams of a woman neither know. The weird part is that Charlie is experiencing feelings for someone they don't even remember. It's up to the two biggest misfits in this growing band to bring back someone that is lost to a change in time.





	An Anomaly of Our Own Creation

**Author's Note:**

> fucking hell

No matter how fast they ran, down every hallway they turned, the freakishly familiar voice followed. It was always echoing, they were so close to understanding what she was saying but they couldn't quite place what she was saying. Her tone was flirtatious and teasing, Charlie just couldn't place who it was coming from. They were ripped away from the Waverider's endless hallways, only to be reliving the same old nightmare.

They were blasted against the wall by a powerful gust of wind, Ray was begging Behrad not to send them to hell as Constantine was doing the opposite. Behrad was torn, wanting to listen to his buddy or the demanding dickhead of a Brit. 

Their usual nightmare ended in being sent back down to hell, but something was different this time. They transformed one final time out of desperation and looked back to Behrad, except he wasn't there anymore. They couldn't distinguish a distinct face from whoever stood in his place, but her voice matched the distorted woman that had been haunting her for the past couple days. "No, I can't- I can't do it."

This was the first time these words were clear enough for her to hear, but they still did not know the voice belonged to. The woman faltered, the amulet powered down and at the same time Charlie hit the ground, they leaped out of bed in a cold sweat. Even in sleep, they could feel a splitting headache as their brain struggled between holding the image of the woman or Behrad. 

"Not fucking again, this is bloody frustrating," Charlie growled under their breath. They hadn't had a good nights rest since they won against Neron. There was not a foreseeable reason why they won. Nate was still alive, Ray had his body back. Nora was still a fairy godmother, but that was her issue to deal with. 

Everything was fine, although Charlie had a sneaking suspicion that their bliss would be short-lived. But until then, they needed to figure out what the hell was happening to them. Not in any of their years experienced something as bizarre as this, but had seen something similar before. Charlie knew just who to talk to about this.

"Aye! Johnno!" Charlie peeked around the corner from the kitchen, surprised to find almost everyone hanging around. Sara was sitting on the counter, too distracted by Ava to even notice that Charlie walked into the room. Nora and Ray looked up, the daughter of the damned was very interested in their need to see John. After all, no one willingly went to him for help unless lives depended on it. 

"No Charlie, I can't help you hold your shape-shifting form any longer, that'll come with time love," Constantine groaned, waving his hand dismissively. He was more preoccupied with the half-empty bottle of rum in his hand than willing to talk to them. 

"No you bloody bastard, maybe if you'll let me speak than I can explain, in private?" Charlie hissed quietly so none of the other legends could hear. They didn't want to try and explain this to Sara or the others, at least not yet until they had any idea of who this woman was. Maybe she was nothing more than dreams, but they felt real. Far too real to be nothing. Until Charlie knew what was haunting their dreams than they would bother with telling the rest of the crew. 

She felt so real, as was the foreign feelings that were creeping around their heart like a vine that was out of control. No matter how much they hacked away at it, trying to thwart it from growing uncontrollably.

"You can't just let me enjoy the momentary peace, aye love?" Constantine grumbled, reluctantly dragging himself off the chair. 

"Enjoy the victory, Charlie. Everyone lived, we got Ray back. Nate's still kicking, the timeline is back on track," Sara pitched in despite that no one had asked her. Charlie shot her a grumpy glare, too exhausted to deal with their team's peppy mood. 

"For now," Ava chirped, remaining ever so optimistic.

"Oh for Beebo's sake, don't jinx this please Aves," Sara groaned, standing on the tip of her toes to lay her arm around her girlfriend's shoulder. Ava batted her away, nose screwed up at the mention of ‘Beebo'.

"Johnathan Constantine!" Charlie snapped, jerking her head to the empty library. They didn't know if John was short for a more suitable name, but it certainly put a tad bit of energy and move him a little quicker towards the isolated room. 

"John is short for Johnathan?" Ray inquired as to if baffled by the realization that John can, in fact, short for Johnathan. 

"Ray…" Nora groaned and shook her head. She knew Charlie was teasing, but her idiot boyfriend? Not so much. 

"Fine, cool your jets," John trudged after them but not before shooting a pleading glare at the two gross couples that were enjoying their quarrel.   
Charlie waited for the doors to shut, even after the click of the door they still didn't say anything. They didn't know how to word what they were experiencing, they didn't know how to explain this extremely weird deja vu feeling that they couldn't shake.

"Spill it, shifter," Constantine growled, leaning against a bookshelf with his arms crossed against his chest. He already had a cigarette in his hand, maneuvering it within his fingers as he presumably held the temptation to lit it (thanks to Gideon setting off the sprinklers once or twice on purpose).

"I've been having dreams…" They forced the words out, although they could already see John's doubt as it was splayed across his face. "I haven't slept in a week-"

"Then get Gideon to sedate you," he said, clearly not giving a damn about the strain in their voice. 

"No, it's different. They're just so real. Like trying to recall what happened the night before- after getting hammered. You know what it's like to black outright?" They waited for John to nod in agreement before continuing, "And then in the morning struggle to put together what happened the night before? That's kind of what it feels like, but here's the thing, it's like two memories are fighting to take over." Charlie motioned for him to reply whenever he was ready, but she was surprised to see his eyes light up.

"Is it of a woman? She has a familiar, ‘I don't want to be here' and kind of hostile vibe," John asked, slipping the cigarette back in his pockets. He started flipping through a dusty book with some weird symbols they vaguely understood. 

"Exactly! Yes!" Charlie cheered a little too loudly, lowering their voice so their roommates wouldn't grow concerned. "That's great to hear, I thought I was growing crazy," they admitted, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Did we piss off a ghoul and it's haunting us? Perhaps take a cursed object? Kill a vengeful spirit is always possible, but Neron doesn't have a soul…" He muttered to himself, occasionally pausing as he skimmed the book. John stopped halfway through a page as realization washed over his face," Or maybe the causation isn't magical."

"What?" Charlie blinked in confusion. They were expecting that they were hexed from some witch they had pissed off or something to do with Neron.

"We created an alternate timeline before, splintering my memory because we were the ones that caused the timeline to go off the rails," Constantine said definitively. "The horrible fuckfest that is time travel. Lawless and confusing, but it may be the reason why we're seeing this enigma of a woman."

"So you're saying we're living in an alternate timeline? How come the others haven't been affected?" Charlie pondered, head now pounding in confusion at the complications of time travel. 

"We can't be the only ones… or can we? In defeating Neron, did us two somehow fuck with the past?" John groaned in frustration, "This isn't magic related. I don't know how to help us figure out this complicated shit. We need someone that knows the ins and outs of time travel."

"God, we're both idiots," Charlie rolled their eyes, "Gideon! Is there any sign that we meddled in the past and simply forgot?"

"My indicators do not sense anything out of the ordinary from the past, the present, however… I am afraid something does not line up. Your battle with Neron may have indeed meddled with time, just not in the way you think. Might I suggest letting Captain Lance on this little predicament?" 

Charlie glanced at John who adamantly shook his head, "We will let her know as soon as-"

He was abruptly cut off when Sara entered the room looking slightly annoyed, a hand on her hip as she said, "What are you hiding from me? Neither of you is good at keeping secrets."

"Bloody hell Gideon, give us some warning next time please!" They grumbled with irritation, "Now that Sara is here, I suppose we might as well let her know."

"Yes, please do enlighten me," Sara asked with forced politeness.

Charlie, with the occasional comment from John, quickly explained their predicament with this mysterious woman. They left out their conflicted feelings for her, despite new desperation to solve this puzzle as soon as possible to maybe get her back. 

After considering Charlie's unusual situation for a couple of moments, Sara finally responded, "As far as I know, no one else has had these visions. I'm hoping this isn't some trick that will unleash some time-devouring monster. Could it be that you're a magical creature and John is, well, John, so you have some connection?"

"You may be on the right track, love. Maybe we do have a connection with her, just not the sort of magical kind. When Charlie and I changed history a couple of dozen times, maybe we share a temporal connection," John said, avoiding Sara's narrowed gaze. 

"That would mean Behrad would be seeing her if your theory is correct," Charlie pointed out. That would make sense considering it was Behrad this woman seemed to replace in her dreams.

"Gideon, can you please summon Behrad?" Sara asked the intelligent AI. 

"Of course, Captain Lance," Gideon replied immediately. 

"Against my better judgment, I am going to let you two figure this out on your own. I only have one rule: No using the jump ship. That means no time traveling without my permission, and I would prefer if you would keep me in the loop of what you figure out," Sara wasn't exactly asking, more telling them in an annoyed voice.

"You're trusting us? That's a bloody riot," Constantine chuckled, resuming his research in a different magical book.

Captain Lance rolled her eyes and responded immediately, "God no. Gideon will be keeping an eye out on the two of you."

"Oi, that sounds about right," Charlie agreed, it was more than fair enough. They rarely listened to Sara (because where's the fun in that) or any of the Legends for that matter. 

"Sara? Gideon said you needed to see me," Behrad peeked his head into the room, glancing at Charlie and John with confusion on his face. "Am I in trouble for something?" 

"No, I just have a question," she shook her head. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief and shut the door behind him.

"You two look like you're up to trouble," Behrad joked with that charming smile of his. For Charlie, seeing Behrad now after these dreams were very surreal. Even awake, her brain was telling her that something wasn't right. He looked authentic, but something was off about him… Sort of like those hyper-realistic movies with CGI people. It looked almost identical to the real thing, but there was still something wrong. 

Sara noticed Charlie's frown, but didn't address it as she turned to ask him, "Have you had any weird dreams or visions about a woman?" 

Berhad went from relaxed to confused with her seemingly random question, "I mean, what kind of dreams?" He attempted to joke, but by Sara's expression, she wasn't tolerating any of it, "Er- no ‘mam. Nothing out of the ordinary." He anxiously ran his hand through his scruffy dark brown hair, "Why?"

"No reason, you're dismissed," Sara replied, disappointed in his response, "Thank you."

"Okay? No problem, I guess," Behrad shrugged and cast a confused glance to Charlie and John before leaving the library.

"So that theory is out," Sara groaned, leaning against the desk.

"Not necessarily. Sara, hear me out," Charlie requested. The (reformed) assassin nodded and she continued, "I think it may have something to do with Behrad. Something about him feels off to me."

"Like you can't trust him? Or does he have ulterior motives?" Sara was immediately concerned by Charlie's words about a trusted teammate.

"No, I just don't know. I don't know why, but my gut is telling me something isn't right. I've never had an issue with Behrad before, but… I don't know Sara, it's just a feeling I can't describe," Charlie tried her hardest to explain but the words just weren't forming. It didn't help that a headache had formed at the back of her head; was making it increasingly harder to focus. 

"Well, if you do figure out what you're feeling then let me know. If you think this vision is potentially life-threatening, then I'll involve the others. But until then, I'm going to enjoy what little peace I have left before the next crisis with Ava," Sara said before exiting the library with no additional words. 

"So we got virtually nowhere with Sara's help. And since Behrad doesn't share these visions that we do, where do we go from here?" Charlie groaned loudly, wanting to just scream away her frustrations. "If we could just identify her…" And then an idea hit Charlie, sparking a new hope in her chest," Gideon?"

"How may I assist you?" Gideon's voice echoed overhead. Charlie winced, the voice seemed louder than usual as the headache pounded hard l  
John looked up from his book, glancing at Charlie with an interest in his eyes, "Are you able to see our dreams?"

"If you connect yourself through the med bay, I will have access to your brain waves and be able to upload your dream to my internal server," the feminine voice explained, again sounding about 10 notches too loud.

"Okay, sounds like a place to start," they felt a little dizzy and leaned against the bookcase. They closed their eyes for a second to soothe their headache as John piped up, "You okay love? You look like rubbish."

"Aye, I'm alright," Charlie replied quietly, rubbing their temple rhythmically to try and quell the pain.  
Suddenly her headache spike, causing there to gasp as another memory presented itself without warrant.   
They opened their eyes to the dirty streets of New Orleans, the style of clothes hinting that it wasn't the 21st century. They immediately knew that this was the mission where the Legends were searching for the monster of the week. 

Charlie and the Behrad were kind of slacking off because John had disappeared and weren't adamant about finding the arse of a Brit so they were exploring 1856 New Orleans. They had stopped to get some food, Charlie looked over at the sound of Behrad's voice to see the woman again. They were standing closer than Charlie remembered, their body language was slightly different. As they walked through the crowd, Charlie found themselves walking closer to her, watching every little thing she did. 

This time more than any other, her feelings were amplified yet still felt new and fresh, almost cautionary. Almost as if they were afraid of what they were feeling, but Charlie didn't recall feeling this way when they were wandering the bustling city streets with Behrad. Whomever this woman was, she had to have something special about her if Charlie was this whipped for someone they couldn't properly remember. 

Now that she knew that this wasn't any old dream and that she had to be real, Charlie tried to focus in on any prominent features. They took notice of her long brown, almost black hair and a narrower face. But besides that, the rest of her body was blurred, even the reddish dress she was wearing was indistinguishable.

Charlie focused their breathing, calming themselves down enough for the hazy figure started to clear up. Just as this was happening though, Charlie was jolted awake by someone roughly shaking.

They were now sitting in the medbay, accompanied by John and the beeping lights of the medical equipment. Their head still hurt, but the pain had subsided.

"Damn it, John! I was close to getting a good look at her!" Charlie snapped, glaring at the rugged Brit with contempt.

"You bloody fainted, Charlie! What would you have me to do? Just fucking leave you there on the library floor?" John nipped back, just as frustrated with this as they were.

"Fine. Fair enough," they grumbled, crossing their arms in annoyance.

"Why are you so persistent about finding this damn woman?" John asked with genuine curiosity and worry.

"I don't know, Johno. It just feels wrong that she isn't here. There is part of me that feels empty without her but in these visions… I like her," Charlie's voice was now a whisper, "I fucking like a woman I can't remember."

Constantine didn't reply immediately as he thoughtfully considered their words before saying with surprising softness, "Then we'll find her. If you're up for it, I can put you in a controllable trance that will let you relay what you're seeing to me and Gideon will be able to compose an image of her."

"Damn, where is this soft John Constantine hiding?" Charlie teased with a smirk. "And yes, let's get this shit over with before it drives me crazy."

"Shut up before I let you succumb to your insane attraction to a virtually nonexistent girl," John huffed, pulling an odd assortment of items out of his coat pocket. He proceeded to combine these random items into a bottle of thick silver liquid and mumble a couple of words in a harsh whisper.

"All set Gideon?" Charlie asked nervously, already knowing the response.

"Of course, sweet dreams, Charlie," she responded with weird amusement in her voice. 

"Take a swig of this love, make sure to drink all of it," John instructed, handing the silver sludge to Charlie. They obliged and tilted their head back, sending the disgusting ‘liquid' down their throat in an attempt to avoid tasting it. 

Charlie screwed their face at the horrid taste that tainted her taste buds, "Gah! Horrible."

"Well it wasn't supposed to taste like sunshine and rainbows," John rasped as he took out a golden watch. "Now, keep your eyes on the watch. Follow it, let the potion run its course and lull you to sleep." 

They didn't bother replying and listened to Constantine's instructions. Their eyes didn't leave the watch, trying to focus their energy on that rather than their invading thoughts about the girl. Charlie felt each second tick by, every moment in it of itself feels like a thousand hours.  
They finally blinked, only to open their eyes in a domestic house. It was apparent that this was a family home with family photos on every service and crude yet adorable drawings by a child. Unlike the other dreams, Charlie didn't recognize this house in the slightest. 

"What do you see?" The disembodied voice of John reverberated against the walls.

"An ordinary old house, nothing special. Family photos and toys all over the place," Charlie replied, finding their voice foreign.

"Do you see her?" John gently prompted as Charlie glanced around her surroundings, seeing a figure standing at the edge of the kitchen as she examined something in a pink bag. 

"Yes," they responded and walked over to her. Again, their heart rate tripled and they were nervous enough for their palms to grow clammy.

"Bloody hell Charlie, the monitor is going crazy," John commented, "Breath. Focus on her face, look for her eyes. Listen to her voice."  
Charlie ignored him as they leaned against the counter, glancing over at the woman who was talking away. They blinked a couple of times, taking John's advice and took self deep, deliberate breaths and kept her attention on their face. 

Which was hard, considering she was staring down at her phone. Charlie's ears finally broke through the barrier when she looked up to talk to her and said,"-I ran. I've never forgiven myself. You won't either."   
Charlie was hesitating in this alternate timeline, clearly conflicted between doing what's right and her innate desire to save themselves. This provided a chance for her to not just listen, but impatiently watch her features slowly form and shape to become recognizable.

"But we can save their present. Charlie?" She looked at them with faltering hope in her eyes. This was it, they could feel the woman's face finally coming together to a complete picture, like watching an artist paint a masterpiece. 

"If I die, I'm gonna come back and haunt you," Charlie said to her, bringing a delighted smile to her face. 

"I would love a ghost friend," she replied softly. 

"Well?" John's voice coincided with the brilliant moment when she was able to distinguish a complete human face from the woman that had haunted her dreams for a week. 

"She's… beautiful," Charlie breathed, her words only translating to John and not to the enigma in front of her. And she was, she was more than Charlie had imagined and even better. It wasn't just the kindness in her voice, but the way she looked at them. Her worry about whatever crisis they were facing…

A sharp snap took all of that away. All at once, Charlie was suddenly back on the ship, feeling once again lost and confused. "Damn it, John! You couldn't just let me admire her for another moment?"

"Oh fuck off, Gideon is running facial recognization now," John rolled his eyes and handed them a tablet.

"This better is worth it," Charlie grumbled, eyes glued to the screen until their heart stopped altogether when the familiar face popped onto the screen. 

"Who you both have been seeing is Zari Tomaz," Charlie and John looked at each other, eyes wide in bewilderment," The Zari Tomaz you are seeing Charlie is the one that originated in an alternative 2042."

"Zari," the name brought satisfaction to Charlie as they tossed the name around in their head a couple of times, "Fucking Behrad's sister. I don't understand, how could this have happened?"

"Fucking time travel, love. There is no explaining it," John shrugged, obviously not as affected by this revelation as they were.

"But I want an explanation. I need an explanation!" Charlie groaned, "Gideon, please tell me you can help me out?"

"I am sorry, but at this moment I am limited to my access to this timeline," she replied simply.   
Somehow, Charlie doubted that. They had a suspicion that Gideon knew more than she was letting on, but chose to ignore it because they didn't understand what a computer would gain by lying.

"So what's our next step?" John asked, an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"We go to 2042," Charlie said with newfound determination, pushing herself off of the uncomfortable medbay chair. She was unbelievably excited to find Zari and get back her hidden memories, but a part of her was also scared. The conflicting nervousness was back and stronger than ever, particularly when it came to how she felt about Zari. 

Especially when Charlie was missing pretty much every aspect of their relationship because of there as an entire timeline that was altered.  
They would catch Sara up later, Charlie's priority was reconnecting with Zari and gaining back missing memory.

**Author's Note:**

> idk im tired and finally finished this chapter, i started it like a week after the finale so... i've been busy okay  
> zarlie still owns my heart and I still hate steelhacker so nothing has changed


End file.
